Red Sox manager John Farrell spoke with the media for about 15 minutes prior to Monday's contest against the Blue Jays, with whom he spent the past two seasons as skipper. The Toronto press joined the Boston corps to see what he had to say about facing his former team for the first time.

While Farrell offered a few gracious comments about his time with the Toronto organization, the former Blue Jays manager was firmly focused on the Red Sox.

“April will get here when it does," said Farrell, who was booed by Jays fans here. "We’ve got a lot of work to do right now. I’m certainly not looking too far ahead. How that (facing the Blue Jays) unfolds -- we’ll see. I fully respect that team. They’ve got a darn good team, and I look forward to competing against them."

Here are some other notable highlights:

* Red Sox righthander Steven Wright matched up against Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey in Monday’s game, a battle of two knuckleballers. Farrell said it was just a coincidence that two knuckleballers started against each other.

"We didn't call Toronto and ask if Dickey was going to pitch so we would match him Wright, so it's just coincidental," Farrell said when asked if the Red Sox planned on having Wright face Dickey. "It falls on the same day. So this is one of the rarities and really a unique opportunity to see two knuckleballers, one which obviously is a reigning Cy Young Award winner and one who is developing to hopefully become a big league pitcher."

Farrell was excited about Wright being able to gain some insight from former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who was on hand in Dunedin to begin his stint as a mentor to Wright.